John Kay, a respected economist, arrived at the idea for Obliquity because he was disillusioned with economics. As he writes of his then thriving consultancy business: "Like many economists we believed that if our models did not describe the world, the fault lay with the world."

Kay is not the first to realise there is a mismatch between the idea of rational choice that underpins modern economics and the way people actually behave. This then is a useful addition to the thriving school of behavioural economics. The heart of Kay's thesis—that people and companies achieve the most when they set out with an oblique goal—raises huge issues for directors.

Kay notes that the wealthiest entrepreneurs aren't in business for money and the most profitable firms don't chase profits. This is significant for anyone managing their own career or seeking to guide a company to success. A former lecturer in strategy at London Business School, Kay is aware of implications for that discipline. As the book's qualifying title suggests, the theory of obliquity challenges conventional approaches to strategy.